Republican Gabe Evans is running for Congress after finishing his first term in the Colorado House. He spent a decade working as a police officer in Arvada and served in the U.S. Army and with the Colorado Army National Guard, before in 2019.
In launching his campaign last year, Evans said he’s running “to help restore pride in this great nation for which I fought.”
While at the state House Evans, who lives on a farm in Fort Lupton, served on the Judiciary and Energy & Environment committees. And many of his bills focused on justice and public safety issues, including ensuring public employees get time off to do their National Guard service. Of the 14 bills he’s introduced during his time in office, eight have been signed into law, five were voted down and one was vetoed by the governor.
The race is expected to be a close one, with national Republicans and allied groups pouring money into the district, which is the state’s lone toss-up and could help determine which party controls the House. He got endorsements from House Speaker Mike Johnson and former President Donald Trump. And he beat out the state party-endorsed candidate in the primary.
Evans succeeded in getting the Libertarian candidate to drop out of the race, after signing a pledge to pursue certain policies if elected. Many Republicans believe the Libertarian candidate in 2022 cost the party the seat then. More recently, Evans fired his political director for social media posts that included antisemitic content and supported QAnon conspiracies and political violence.
CPR News is part of Voter Voices, a statewide effort to ask Coloradans what issues matter most to them in this election. We used those responses to develop the questionnaire CPR sent to major party candidates. Archuleta’s answers are below.
Gabe Evans on the economy and cost of living
What would you do, as a member of Congress, to address the cost of housing?
While housing is largely a state and local issue, the federal government’s runaway spending has resulted in rising interest rates, making housing affordability prohibitive for many Americans. The number one thing Congress can do to improve housing affordability is simple: stop the failed economic policies of the Biden / Harris administration and rein in runaway spending and deficits. Promoting construction defect reform will also help increase the supply of affordable housing ownership options like condos.
What can Congress do to address inflation, particularly around the cost of food?
Inflation is caused by too much money chasing too few goods. The Biden / Harris administration has unleashed a flood of government spending (demand), while simultaneously imposing stifling, expensive regulations that limit supply. Red tape has made it harder than ever for farmers to produce food. The cost of transporting food has skyrocketed, thanks to punitive regulations on energy producers. The solution? Cut government spending and rein in costly, punitive regulations.
What are your views on raising tariffs on foreign goods?
Free and fair trade is important. Our district feeds the world and powers the world. We rely on open trade. I am skeptical of tariffs or trade barriers, except when America’s national security is jeopardized (e.g., when weapons are involved or trade involving a hostile actor, such as Iran, China, or Russia).
Gabe Evans on democracy and good governance
What are your top three ideas for reforms to make Congress work better?
As a police officer and U.S. Army veteran, I've put country first for a combined total of 22 years. Putting country first means knowing your principles AND being able to collaborate. We can do that by passing:
1. A Balanced Budget Amendment to force negotiation and common ground on taxing and spending.
2. Withholding pay to members of Congress when they fail to pass a budget or when the government shuts down.
3. Reforming our broken budget process. Typically, government is funded by catch-all, “omnibus” spending packages. While I am open-minded about specifics, I believe reform must include “zero-based budgeting”. Every program should be required to justify its existence every year.
Context: Congress members get paid during a government shutdown because their pay is in Article 1, Section 6 of the Constitution. Also lawmaker pay has been permanently appropriated since 1983. Their pay does not need to be renewed annually.
If control of the federal government remains divided between the parties after the election, how do you plan to be effective for your district?
As a state representative in the minority party, I still passed almost 60% of my bills because I can collaborate with anyone. Two-thirds of the sitting mayors in the district have endorsed me because they know I'm an honest broker. The Libertarian party candidate just withdrew from the race and endorsed me. As a police officer and U.S. Army veteran, I've put country first for a combined total of 22 years. Putting country first means knowing your principles AND being able to collaborate. I did it in the state house, and I look forward to doing it in Congress.
There is an initiative on Colorado’s ballot to do away with party primaries and institute ranked choice voting. How will you vote on it and why?
I support sensible electoral reforms. In recent years, Democrats have repeatedly tried to intervene in Republican primaries to try and nominate the “weakest” candidate – at least the weakest in their eyes. It’s blatant election interference and undermines our electoral system. However, at this time, I am not convinced ranked choice voting is the answer. In Alaska, which instituted ranked choice voting four years ago, political gamesmanship has been prevalent.
Context: North to the future? Alaska’s ranked choice voting system is praised and criticized nationally (APM)
Do you trust the current electoral system in Colorado? What about the rest of the country?
I was a police officer for 10 years and a court recognized forensic expert. I’ve personally seen how seriously county clerks in Colorado take their job and handle ballots with the same chain of custody processes used on crime scenes. Improvements can and should be made. For example, I support voter ID laws. And it is far too easy for non-citizens to end up on our voter rolls. But I do not believe fraud is prevalent in Colorado. Regarding the rest of the country, the case of Pennsylvania, where the state’s courts rewrote laws and changed the rules in the middle of the 2020 election, were particularly problematic to me. I have not familiarized myself with the specific circumstances of other states well enough to comment.
Gabe Evans on immigration
How should the U.S. Congress address current and future waves of people crossing at the border?
Illegal immigration is illegal. We cannot concede to “waves of people crossing the border”. America’s southern border has been hijacked by gangs, cartels and coyotes who make huge profits off of human and drug trafficking, particularly in fentanyl and sex trafficking. Securing the border is not difficult. Build more wall, enforce the laws, support the Border Patrol, and re-institute Remain in Mexico. It will be job-one on day-one when I get to Congress.
Name one aspect of the current legal immigration system the U.S. Congress should reform or abolish, and why?
My grandfather immigrated to the United States from Mexico and earned his citizenship with two
purple hearts in WWII. I know the immigration system should prioritize accepting people like him who demonstrate they can bring value to America, will not be a drain on taxpayer resources, and will commit to becoming an American first.
What should the U.S. do about people who have lived in the country for a long time without documentation, including so-called Dreamers?
I support pathways to citizenship for Dreamers — once the border is secured for good and illegal immigration is stopped (or at least reduced to a very small number).
What does the candidate think of GOP Presidential candidate Donald Trump’s call for mass deportations?
Millions upon millions of people have entered the country illegally. This is unfair to the millions of immigrants who followed the rules and entered legally, or those who are waiting in line and attempting to immigrate legally. That said, this policy is far more complicated than 'deport' versus 'don't deport'. I support a policy of prioritized deportation in which we focus on deporting individuals who pose the biggest threat to Americans' safety and cost to American taxpayers.
Gabe Evans on climate and natural resources
What is the most pressing environmental or natural resource issue facing Colorado?
As a former Colorado National Guardsman who has personally fought wildfires, I know the most pressing Colorado-specific environmental issue is wildfire mitigation. Our forests have become a tinderbox. I support sensible wildfire mitigation, such as removing dead trees and thinning overgrown and beetle-killed forests.
What are the most urgent steps the country should take to address climate change, if any?
Global climate change means we cannot export energy or industrial production to nations with lower environmental regulations and higher carbon footprints (like China). Here in Colorado, the biggest thing we can do to reduce greenhouse gasses is fire mitigation. Wildfires are one of the biggest year-to-year variables in CO2 emissions. When well-intentioned but misguided regulations prevent proper forest management, the results can be tremendously counterproductive to the goal of reducing greenhouse emissions.
Should the federal government take steps to limit new oil and gas production on public lands?
America – and particularly Colorado – generate the cleanest oil and gas production in the world. Why would we want to shut down domestic production and drive production overseas into the arms of hostile regimes, such as Iran or Russia? The Biden Administration’s limits on American energy production directly benefit Russia and Iran, helping fund their wars against Ukraine and Israel.
Reasonable regulation is good. It ensures basic safety. But too often, state and federal lawmakers implement ideologically driven punitive regulation, designed to shut down the American energy industry. Our modern world needs more energy, not less (data centers, for example, require massive amounts of energy). Every watt of energy not produced in the United States comes from places like China and Iran, which have horrible environmental controls. Again, global climate change means we cannot export energy production to nations with lower environmental regulations and higher carbon footprints.
Context: U.S. produces more crude oil than any country (U.S. Energy Information Administration)
Context: U.S. natural gas production sets new record high (Forbes)
